Mar 23, 2015

Last time around, we have finished our review and analysis of Pacquiao and Mayweather's five common opponents. The statistics have shown that Pacquiao has superior offense whereas Mayweather has much better defense.Now we move on forward with their last three fights. We will see how much they have improved and declined on their most recent fights. We will also explore how their strategies have changed and how they are coping with their advanced age. Pacquiao is 36 to Mayweather's 38.

Give me a caption!

We continue our marathon coverage of the Pacquiao-Mayweather mega
fight. This is entry No.005.The following statistics shows Pacquiao and Mayweather's punch output against their last three foes. Mayweather last fough Marcos Maidana twice and Saul Alvarez. Meanwhile, Manny fought Chris Algieri, Timothy Bradley and Brandon Rios.

The OFFENSE

OFFENSE

Opponents

Floyd Mayweather, Jr

Manny Pacquiao

Jabs

Power Shots

Total

Jabs

Power Shots

Total

Marcos Maidana 2 / Chris Algieri

52 / 152

178 / 274

230 / 426

42 / 259

187 / 410

229 / 669

34%

64%

53%

16%

45%

34%

Marcos Maidana 1 / Tim Bradley 2

64 / 149

102 / 177

166 / 326

50 / 219

148 / 344

198 / 563

42%

57%

50%

22%

43%

35%

Saul Alvarez / Brandon Rios

139 / 330

93 / 175

232 / 505

58 / 322

223 / 468

281 / 790

42%

53%

45%

18%

47%

35%

TOTAL

255 / 631

373 / 626

628 / 1257

150 / 800

558 / 1222

708 / 2022

40%

59%

49%

18%

45%

35%

AVERAGE

85 / 210.3

124.3 / 208.7

209.3 / 419

50 / 266.7

186 / 407.3

236 / 674

40%

59%

49%

18%

45%

35%

The story of the jab accounts for the huge discrepancy in their
offense. Mayweather lands 40% of his jabs compared to Pacquiao's
poor 18%. In terms of quantity, Mayweather landed 255 jabs to
Pacquiao's 150 total. This is a critical part of the fight that we
should take note. Mayweather can win this fight just by jabbing and
getting away from Pacquiao. This will make the fight boring to watch
and much easier for Mayweather to come up victorious.

On power shots, the numbers are much closer. Mayweather is very
impressive with his 59% accuracy. Pacquiao is accurate, 45%, but
relies more on volume punching.

Speaking of volume, Mayweather throws only about half of
Pacquiao's 407 average power punches per fight. As a result, even
with a lower accuracy, Pacquiao connected 186 to Mayweather's 124.
That is 62 more shots to hurt and knock his opponent down.

Mayweather's accuracy to Pacquiao's volume. Mayweather will be
choosy on his punches while Pacquiao will be very busy throwing
bombs often. By defending more against the voluminous punches coming
from Pacquiao, Mayweather's punch output will dip even more.
Pacquiao threw a total of 2000 punches to Mayweather's 1200 in these
3 fights. The busier and more aggressive fighter will be Pacquiao.

The DEFENSE

DEFENSE

Opponents

Floyd Mayweather, Jr

Manny Pacquiao

Jabs

Power Shots

Total

Jabs

Power Shots

Total

Marcos Maidana 2 / Chris Algieri

36 / 318

185 / 540

221 / 858

28 / 257

80 / 212

108 / 469

11%

34%

25%

10%

37%

23%

Marcos Maidana 1 / Tim Bradley 2

41 / 237

87 / 335

128 / 572

32 / 287

109 / 340

138 / 502

17%

25%

22%

11%

32%

22%

Saul Alvarez / Brandon Rios

44 / 294

73 / 232

117 / 526

25 / 239

113 / 263

138 / 502

14%

31%

22%

10%

42%

27%

TOTAL

121 / 849

345 / 1107

466 / 1956

85 / 783

302 / 815

387 / 1598

14%

31%

23%

10%

37%

24%

AVERAGE

40.3 / 283

115 / 369

155.3 / 652

28.3 / 261

100.7 / 271.7

129 / 532.7

14%

31%

23%

10%

37%

24%

Pacquiao defended better against jabs. Only 10% of jabs connected
against him whereas 14% were able to hit Mayweather. In total jabs,
only 28 for Pacquiao and 40 for Mayweather.

Pacquiao also defended better against power shots in terms of
total shots he absorbed. Pacquiao was hit by 101 power shots per
fight compared to 115 for Mayweather.

Overall, Pacquiao was only hit 387 times by Algieri, Bradley and
Rios while Mayweather got hit 466 times by Alvarez and Maidana in 2
fights.

Based on percentage, Mayweather got the better of Pacquiao. Only
31% of power shots and 23% of all punches combined connected against
him, whereas Pacquiao got hit 37% of power shots and 24% of all
punches.

More punches are being thrown against Mayweather as compared to
Pacquiao. Part of this, we give credit to Maidana for unleashing an
aggressive attack againt Floyd. Part also to Pacquiao because his
in-and-out style makes it more difficult for his opponents to throw
a punch against him. Mayweather has stood more in front of his
opponents that is why more punches are being thrown against him.

Pacquiao's Decline

The prime years of Manny Pacquiao were when he outclassed Dela Hoya,
Hatton and Cotto. He perhaps started to slow down and declined before or
after the Juan Manuel Marquez knock out.

Let us graph Pacquiao's offense and defense. On the OFFENSE half of the following graphs, the first pair of bars shows his average statistics against his 5 common opponents with Mayweather. The second pair of bars shows his average against his last 3 opponents. Likewise, on the DEFENSE half of the graphs, the first pair is against 5 common opponents with Mayweather and the second pair is against his last 3.

Pacquiao's Overall Punches Thrown (OFFENSE) and Thrown Against Him (DEFENSE)

Clearly, Pacquiao's punch output is down from 731 to 674. Even more alarming, his punch connected has significantly dropped from 304 to 236. On defense, he has now allowed 129 punches to land against him. About 14 more from 114.8 against the 5 common opponents with Mayweather. Offense has declined much and defense has declined a little.

Pacquiao's POWER Punches

The Power punches of Manny Pacquiao are in serious decline. We have not seen him knock out an opponent since Miguel Cotto in 2009, almost a 6-year KO drought. And much of it is due to his downward output in total power shots thrown (from 467 to 407) and mostly in power shots connected (from a 254 to 186).Mayweather's DECLINEIt is not only Pacquiao who is on the decline. Even Floyd Mayweather has succumbed to ageing. He does not move a lot like when he was younger. Today, he stands more against his opponents which has significantly degraded his defense.

Mayweather's Total Punches Thrown (OFFENSE) and Thrown Against Him (DEFENSE)

Mayweather's POWER Punches

Mayweather has retained his offense and has even improved his accuracy by reducing his movements around the boxing ring. The negative side of it is he becomes more vulnerable to his opponents attacks. From a very tight defense allowing only 93 total punches per fight, he now absorbs 155. More telling, 115 power shots are landing against him which was only 63 previously. Compared with Pacquiao, Mayweather's defense is no longer impeccable.

Conclusions

PACQUIAO HAS DECLINED IN HIS OFFENSIVE OUTBURST.

Pacquiao has declined in his punch output. Against their 5 common
opponents, his average punches was 304 / 731. In his last 3 fights,
it was down to 236 / 674. The punches are lesser and the accuracy is
lower. Pacquiao's offense has definitely declined. He needs to
improve on this to have a better chance against Mayweather.

On defense, Pacquiao remains elusive with his movements. His defense
against jabs is superior to Mayweather. However, his aggressiveness
on offense gives a lot of opportunities for his opponents to fire
back and counter him, usually with power shots. As a result, Pacquiao
is still hittable with an alarming 37% of punches that landed
against him.

MAYWEATHER HAS DECLINED IN HIS DEFENSIVE WIZARDRY.

Mayweather has became even more accurate. This accuracy is very
impressive and somewhat scary. His punch output has declined from
506 to 419 but his connection still managed to improve from 207.6 to
209. Almost 1 of every 2 punches land!

On defense, Mayweather has opened himself up more. From evading 17%
of his opponents total punches, his defense has gone worse to 23%.
From 93 punches connected against him, the number went up to 155.
This has got to improve. Mayweather cannot just stand against
Pacquiao like what he did most of the time against Alvarez and
Maidana. He needs to jab and take advantage of his 5-inch longer
reach to stay away from Pacquiao.

Mar 17, 2015

Our friends from Milo Philippines just shared an inspiring marathon story of our very own Filipino marathoners Rafael Poliquit Jr. and Mary Joy Tabal who competed on the ASICS Los Angeles Marathon last March 15.

Milo News Letter:

Poliquit, Tabal conquer ASICS LA Marathon

Manila, Philippines – Fresh from their stellar victories in the 38th National MILO Marathon, Philippine Air Force member Rafael Poliquit Jr. and marathon record-holder Mary Joy Tabal completed the prestigious ASICS Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday, March 15. Poliquit and Tabal, the reigning MILO Marathon King and Queen, were pitted against over 26,000 runners from 50 states of the US and 55 countries in the world, including the top athletes from the United States, who competed in the 42K running event to qualify for the US National Team for the 2016 Olympics.Following last year’s delegation to the Paris Marathon, the National MILO Marathon awarded both athletes with all-expenses paid trips to the ASICS LA Marathon as the Philippine delegates sponsored by MILO. The ASICS LA Marathon is one of the five largest full marathons in the United States, and one of the ten largest races in the world.The 26-year-old Davaoeño Poliquit clocked in at 2:36:09 and ranked 27th overall in the men’s division. In the distaff side, 25-year-old Cebuana Tabal posted a time of 2:51:17 and finished 27th overall in the women’s division.Journey to the finish lineAccording to race organizer Rio dela Cruz, the athletes traveled early and were able to prepare and acclimatize to the cool weather. Both were in top shape in the months leading to the race, fully focused in following their training regimen which consisted of muscle recovery, strength and speed workouts and endurance training, as well as mental conditioning and proper nutrition.California was baked in heat on race day, but it was nothing compared to the scorching sun in the Philippines. In fact, Poliquit found the weather to be cool, and made the race very challenging. “I am not really used to colder weather. I had difficulties in breathing normally as I went along the race. I was also unable to hydrate myself well because I thought I wasn’t thirsty because of the cold,” admitted Poliquit. “I also felt that my lower limbs were starting to cramp past the 30KM mark. This was truly challenging, because the route had more uphill parts towards the second half.”Tabal, however, found the colder weather good and used it to her advantage. “It wasn’t too cold and it wasn’t too hot, which, for me, is good for a race. The route was wide open, no vehicles, and it was safe for us to move freely, but still, it was very challenging,” shared Tabal. “I was not included amongst the group of elite runners whose gun time was ahead by ten minutes, so I had to catch up and make up for the delay. I also wanted to run alongside somebody so I can set my pace, but I could not find anyone and had to push myself and maintain a good pace until the finish line.”Running with the greats

Aside from the different challenges both were faced with, it was an added test for both Poliquit and Tabal to run with elite runners from all over the United States who were vying to qualify for the 2016 Olympics. Still, this fueled the two more to strive and persevere to show that Filipinos can compete with the world’s best.

“The Africans, especially the Ethiopians and Kenyans, were the fastest among the group, and it was very hard to keep stride with them. They really are made of a different caliber,” shared Poliquit. “During the start of the race, I was able to run alongside my idol, US marathoner Ryan Hall. It is one of the highlights of my first international race. I didn’t expect that I would be able to join a big international race like this. It’s a dream come true.”

Tabal admitted that she had to chase the female elite runners in the hopes of finishing with a higher rank. “I was able to keep up with best runners and I was really confident of finishing in the top 10, but I suddenly had a bad stomach and it affected my running,” said Tabal. “I had to shift to a relaxed pace in order to survive the race. The supporters along the road cheered me on, shouting “Go Baby Girl!”, and it spurred me on. I made it and it was a very wonderful and rewarding experience.”

Raising the Philippine flag high

Both runners shared that the support of MILO and the Filipino community powered their will to give pride to the country and inspire the youth to become champions.

“The ASICSLA Marathon is another accomplishment and a dream come true for me, as a runner. It’s an honor to represent the Philippines in a big international event. I would like to thank MILO for believing in us to reach the international stage. I am very grateful to my coach Philip Dueñas. I wouldn’t be here if not for his patience, effort and support,” said Tabal. “I would like to dedicate this achievement to my kababayans, especially the Cebuanos, who always give their all-out support. When I crossed the finish line, it felt like it wasn’t just me who did it, but my kababayans, the entire nation also crossed it with me.”Poliquit echoes Tabal’s sentiments in representing the Philippines. “I’m so proud and happy to represent the country in Los Angeles. I am grateful to MILO for giving me this once in a lifetime chance, and to the Philippine Air Force for allowing me to grab this amazing opportunity, and of course, my family who has always believed in me,” expressed Poliquit.MILO Sports Marketing Manager Andrew Neri expressed his pride for the two athletes. “Rafael and Mary Joy have truly raised the Philippine flag high in Los Angeles, and proved once again that Filipinos are exceptional and world class. We are delighted to have provided them the platform to showcase their athletic excellence amongst the world’s best runners,” remarked MILO Sports Marketing Manager Andrew Neri.

The National MILO Marathon holds an esteemed position in the world map of marathon destinations, due to its certification from the Association of International Marathons (AIMS) and International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). The National MILO Marathon will usher in its 39th season in June of this year with a goal to engage more runners and continue its Help Give Shoes advocacy by donating brand new running shoes to school children.

KL Featured Contents

KL Scripture Notes

"I will tell you this thing about myself to encourage you. My sole hope for heaven lies in the full atonement made upon Calvary's cross for the ungodly. On that I firmly rely. I have not the shadow of a hope anywhere else. You are in the same condition as I am; for we neither of us have anything of our own worth as a ground of trust. Let us join hands and stand together at the foot of the cross, and trust our souls once for all to Him who shed His blood for the guilty. We will be saved by one and the same Saviour. If you perish trusting Him, I must perish too. What can I do more to prove my own confidence in the gospel which I set before you?" - from ALL of GRACE by C. H. Spurgeon